In second gear until the second half, West Ham opened up impressively after the break at Upton Park last night. They cancelled out Jonathan Walters’ strike through Joey O’Brien’s first Premier League goal, flowing forward in move after move, but failed to seize all the points and the chance of going fifth.

Credit must go to Stoke City for their resilient defending, complementing their spirited first-half attacking, but seventh-placed West Ham will rue the lack of some clinical finishing. “When you put that much pressure on in the second half you have to be more ruthless in front of goal,’’ said Sam Allardyce, the West Ham manager. “We needed more quality and composure. Scoring chances is the most difficult thing in this league and that quality of player is hugely expensive: £50 million on Torres, £24 million on Robin van Persie in the last year of his contract shows you how expensive it is. At the moment we’ve only got Kevin Nolan who can do it on a regular basis.”

Andy Carroll ran hard but failed to threaten Asmir Begovic’s goal and his search for a first goal for West Ham continues. He cut a frustrated figure when removed by Allardyce with four minutes remaining, throwing his hands in the air when reaching the bench.

“Andy wants to score and he wants me to leave him on for 90 minutes,’’ Allardyce added. “Andy’s not to get too frustrated that he’s not scored today. He didn’t get too many chances. Sooner or later if we work on him making runs into the box, and with the service that we give, eventually he’ll score.”

If Carroll continues to divide opinions, there was unanimous approval for West Ham’s play after half-time. James Tomkins continued to marshal Peter Crouch well. Allardyce’s full-backs, especially George McCartney, raided upfield delivering some good crosses. Nolan drove his team on and O’Brien took a rare glimpse of goal well.

Tony Pulis’s side were sharper, hungrier, going through the gears quicker. The move that had led to Walters’ 12th-minute strike brimmed with finesse, a swift counter-attack panicking McCartney into conceding a corner.

The pain intensified from the set-piece, cleverly worked by Stoke, but also involving some illegal blocking to allow Walters his free run. As Walters broke away from McCartney’s domain at the far post, Charlie Adam responded as if preparing for the NBA draft, ensuring that McCartney could not follow Walters’ run.

Walters bent his run around the grappling pairs, timing his arrival perfectly to meet Glenn Whelan’s cutback from the corner flag with a ferocious first-time strike that flew past a startled Carroll. The Bobby Moore Stand looked on in a mixture of anger and disbelief, depending on whether they had spotted Adam’s surreptitious screening.

“I think at this level you need something different, and we’ve been working all week on it and we knew there was a gap there,’’ Adam told Sky Sports. “Fortunately it worked,” Pulis smiled. “We worked on it for two or three days in training but never scored a goal. I’m not supposed to say this but we obstructed a player.”

Allardyce was unimpressed, bristling as much as his Movember effort. “I thought the corner was undefendable,’’ Allardyce said. “If the referee had eyes in the back of his head he would have given a foul.’’

Yet Stoke were good value for their lead. A ripple of unease filtered through the home fans. Their team responded. Allardyce went into meltdown when Chris Foy ignored Geoff Cameron’s rather obvious push on Carroll. Stoke still looked the likelier to update the scoreline, Steven Nzonzi connecting with a half-volley that almost snapped the West Ham bar. As they trooped off at the break, Stoke were contemplating their first away win in the league since Jan 2.

The new half brought a new story. Sensing their players’ new mood, West Ham fans instantly urged them on and the equaliser came in the 48th minute. Gary O’Neil, an increasingly influential figure, crossed low and hard from the right. O’Brien, not noted as one of the game’s great penalty-box predators, responded like a skilled poacher, turning the ball in. Stoke made a few appeals for offside but Foy waved them away.

Back came West Ham again and only Whelan’s positioning and reflexes kept out Modibo Maiga’s shot. Upton Park seethed with annoyance at what they deemed Begovic’s tardiness at taking goal-kicks or free-kicks.

Carlton Cole then sprinted on, replacing the irritated Carroll. West Ham kept charging forward with McCartney again to the fore. West Ham’s passing football made a mockery of any lingering perception that Allardyce had imposed a direct style on his team.

“Everyone’s enjoying what they are seeing at the moment, especially at Upton Park,’’ Allardyce said.